Beehive



Jam 25, 1944- K. HAwKlNs 2,340,219

BEEHIVE Filled Oct. 26. 1942 Patented Jan. 25, 1944 BEEHIV E Kennith Hawkins, Watertown,

G. B. Lewis Company, poration of Wisconsin Wis., assignor to Watertown, Wis., a cor- Application October 26, 1942, Serial No. 463,366

3 Claims.

My invention relates generally to beehives, and more particularly to beehives of generally conventional construction having improved rests or frame supporting members.

Beehives are generally constructed in a boxlike shape having ledges near the upper inner edges of their end Walls forming supports or rests for the frames. It has recently become common practice to transport beehives from place to place by truck, often over rough roads, in order to follow the flowering season in diiierent parts of the country. Such frequent transportation of beehives results in pounding of the projecting ends of the frames against the frame rests,with consequent gradual damage and deterioration of the rests. Similarly, merely the necessary'removal andrreplacement of the frames is likely, unless the frames are replaced very carefully, to result in some damage to the frame rests.A

A number of expedients have been proposed and used with more or less success to provide a durable rest for the frames. Such rests have ordinarily been formed of steel. The result has been that while the frame rests may not as easily be damaged and indented by the frames pounding against them, the metal has tended to Wear into the supporting ends of the frames. When subjected to very rough usage, the metal has been pounded out of shape. Furthermore, such frame rests require a non-oxidizing coating or finish to prevent rusting and corrosion, and such coating frequently cracks or chafes from the frame rest, with the result that the rests begin to rust and deteriorate.

To overcome these disadvantages, and to reduce the cost of manufacture, I have provided a novel form of beehive construction, in which there are provided frame rests of hard wood which are secured to the soft Wood end Walls of the beehive. These hard wood rests are suiciently resiliently yielding that they do not cut into and damage the projecting ends of the frames resting thereupon, and yet are suiiiciently hard that they will have a long useful life even though the beehives are frequently subjected to rough handling or vibration incident to transportation by truck.

It is thus an object of my invention to provide a beehive having improved frame rests.

A further object is to provide a beehive having removable and replaceable frame rests.

A further object is to provide an improved beehive having hard wood frame rests.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

soft Wood, such as white Fig. l is a perspective view of the improvedv beehive having its inner and outercover in raised position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal of the beehive;

Fig- 3 is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the manner in which the frame rests are inserted in the end Walls; g

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the frame rest and adjacent portion of the end Wall; and,

Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, are views similar to Fig. 4 showing modified forms of the invention.

The beehive comprises side walls I2 and I3 and end Walls i4 and I5 joined together in the usual manner to form the hive box, the box being secured to a spaced bottom i6 by spacing stringers I 8 and end wall insert I9. An inner cover 20 lrests upon the top edges oi the side and end Walls and a flanged metallic sheet protected outer cover 22 fits over the top of the hive. The upper inner edges of the end walls I4 and I5v have rabbets 25 formed therein, these rabbets including dovetail grooves 23. The side and endwalls, principally for reasons of economy, are made of pine or Western pine. As best shown in Fig. 4, a frame rest 30 has a key portion tting in the half dovetail groove 28 and is conformed to provide a slightly rounded upper edge 32 upon which the projecting end portions 34 of frames 35 may rest. The frame rests 3l) are formed of strips of a hard wood, such as birch, and are iitted in the grooves 28 of the end walls I4, I5, prior to the attachment of the side walls I2, I3 thereto. Such assembly is indicated in Fig: 3, from which it will be apparent that the frame rest 36 is pushed longitudinally into the groove 28. The strip 3i) is sufficiently shorter than the end Wall that its ends lie ush with the inner surfaces 33 of the mortises in the end edges of the end walls I4, I5, so that after the side walls I2 and I3 are secured to the end Walls, the rests 30 are held against longitudinal movement. The cross-sectional shape of the frame rest 30 is complemental to thegroove 28 so that the rest is interlockingly secured to the end wall and can be removed only after one of the side Walls I2 or i3 has been removed. Occasionally, it may be economical to replace the rests in this manner, although ordinarily the rests will outlast the remaining parts of the beehive.

The form of the rest is representative of a variety of forms in which the rest may be made. Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, il-

vertical sectional view shown in Figs. 1 to 4 54 kformed in i the dovetail portion with -ing removal of the rest except tudinally with In Fig. 9, the rest 68 has an` interlocking pro- WThe" frame 'rest is thus 'thevibration of the frames without being darnaged, since the hard wood, while suiliciently hard vand tough to withstand the blows of the frame 'what pliant, and thus absorbs the lustrate a number of the various shapes which Vthe rest may assume.

In Fig. 5, the rest 40 fits in a half dovetail groove 42 formed in the wall 44, the base of the groove 42 being at an angle of approximately 45" with respect to the vertical.

In Fig. 6, the rest 46 is complemental to a groove 48 in the end wall 50, this groove having its dovetail portion projecting inwardly, and as compared with the construction of Fig. 4, does not require reduction portion of the end wall 50 adjacent the rabbet Y26.

In Fig. '7, the rest 52 has a sidewardly projecting ridge 54 and a downwardly projecting ridge 55 fitting in complemental grooves of rectangular cross-section formed in the end wall 58, the rest 52 being thus interlocked with the end wall.`

In Fig. 8, the rest is provided with a dovetail projection B2 the end Wall 66, this interlocking the groove preventby sliding it longirespect to the end wall 65.

jection 10 tting in a complemental groove 12 fformed in the end wall 14, the rest being thus secured to the end wall without requiring the use of any adhesive or fastening means.

In Fig. 10, the rest 'I6 is provided with a downlwardly projecting dovetail portion 18 fitting in a complemental dovetail groove formed in the 'end wall -82, the dovetail portion thus forming a `iirm anchorage for the frame rest in the end wall 'and preventing its removal except upon disassembly of,` the beehive box.

f It will be noted that in each of the embodiments jof Athe invention, the frame rest is made of a strip of hard wood, such, for example, as birch,

f and that it is interiocked with the end wan so in e'ect to form an integral part of the latter. capable of withstanding' upon it, is nevertheless someshock of such rest end portions 34 tting into a complemental groove' in the cross-section of the- H in which the e be obtained by the use of the same or equivalent means.

-I claim: l Y

1. In a beehive having rabbeted end walls and side Walls of relatively soft wood which in part overlap the vertical edges of the end walls, and

nd walls provided with grooves extending longitudinally thereof, frame rests of hard wood having portions formed complementally'to said grooves and fitting therein, said rests appreciable longitudinal the hive.

2. In a beehive having end walls each provided with a rabbet extending longitudinally of the upper inner edge of the wall and having a groove adjacent'the bottom of the rabbet and likewise extending longitudinally of theend wall, said end being confined against 'wall being -made of avrelatively soft wood, and

a frame rest of vrelatively hard wood, said frame rest being 'in the form of a strip having a portion thereofv complemental to said groove and fitting therein, said frame rest vhaving a vertical sur- 'face substantially flush with the inner surface of the end wall and having a surface sloping away from the vertical surface thereof, whereby said rest will present an acute angle edge for contact with andfor support of the frames.

3. In a beehive having soft wood end walls and side walls, said end walls being each provided with Aa groove ofthe interlocking type, and a pair of -frame rests,each having a portion tted in one of said 'end wall grooves, said frame rests being of hard wood and providing a generally line contact support for the frames.

` KENNITH HAWKINS. 

